Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, has taken on an increasingly prominent role in Iran's street protests since the disputed election 10 days ago.

Mrs Rahnavard, a 64-year-old grandmother and professor, projects a bird-like fragility but has displayed a core of steel. At the weekend she took to Facebook to urge the demonstrators who believe that her husband was cheated out of the presidency not to be swayed by officials' threats of a crackdown.

Her prominent role in the election campaign had already upended the traditional presentation of women in official life. A campaign poster showed the couple walking hand-in-hand. In a country were conservative men refuse to touch women in public, it was a notable blow for a new approach to social affairs.

Following convention, she dresses head-to-toe in a modest black chador, but she has long signalled that her clothes will not limit her. In one of her favourite portraits she is pictured wearing a denim jacket beneath the black gown and in 2007 she spearheaded a campaign for official approval for women to add coloured garments to their outdoor wardrobe.

Although Mr Mousavi had a conservative reputation after serving as prime minister in the 1980s, his campaign credentials as a reformist only came alive after a clash with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over his wife.

When Mr Ahmadinejad questioned the validity of her PhD in political science, Mr Mousavi upbraided the outspoken president.

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But she has rejected suggestions that she would seek celebrity status, or aspire to the prominence of an American-style first lady. "I am not Iran's Michelle Obama. I am Zahra, the follower of Fatimah Zahra (daughter of the prophet Mohammed). I respect all women who are active."